“Welcome to my book collection”

Dear Internet, can you please get to work on a single-serving Tumblr dedicated to weird literary videos? And, when created, can it just eternally re-post this video of a shirtless Glenn Danzig posing by his bookcase (and apparently a roaring fire)? (h/t Adam Boretz)

"I don’t want to write ‘funny’ books where we all have to laugh our heads of all the time. The humor should come from behind, where we don’t expect it. And the life of a well-known writer is something you can laugh about quite easily." On the occasion of his new novel Dear Mr. M, our own Claire CameroninterviewsHerman Koch over at Salon.

Whether or not you believe that Oxford University Press is “the largest, most diverse and most respected university press in the world,” you’ll appreciate this review of a new history of the company, which goes through OUP's origins, its relationship with its namesake and the opening of its New York office in 1896.

2 comments:

Mr. Moran – Is it your suggestion that the Internet find a way to put the Glenn Danzig shirtless video on a continuing loop? Your emotional criticism of the “White Suit’s”repeated reference to scantily clad females in Back to Blood evidently is, as I suggested, personal. You’d rather the repeated references be of scantily clad men. And how much was Danzig paid? Whatever the amount, it was far too much. And if he’s going to discuss his bookshelf, he should put a shirt on and discuss the woodwork of the shelf, not the books on it. Shame on you Mr. Moran. Your criticism of Wolfe reeks of PC politics and in part motivated by personal sex preferences.

The longlist for Canada's 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize has been announced. Notable omissions: "Ilustrado by Montreal’s Miguel Syjuco, which won the Man Asian Literary Award before it was even published; Beatrice and Virgil, Yann Martel’s first novel since his breakthrough Life of Pi; and, most notably, Room by Emma Donoghue, which was recently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize."

The Wall Street Journalreports how literary authors are feeling the pinch in the age of e-books: “The upshot: From an e-book sale, an author makes a little more than half what he or she makes from a hardcover sale.”

Michael Seidlinger writes on how consciousness occurs online. As he puts it, “We have all become Sisyphus, pushing our rocks up a hill littered with hyperlinks and tweets, perpetually, futilely, refreshing the page of existence.” Pair with this Millions piece on the best of literary Twitter.